Selected quad for the lemma: king_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
king_n	aaron_n	burn_v	leprosy_n	29	3	10.7390	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A03116	Mischeefes mysterie: or, Treasons master-peece, the Powder-plot Inuented by hellish malice, preuented by heauenly mercy: truely related. And from the Latine of the learned and reuerend Doctour Herring translated, and very much dilated. By Iohn Vicars.; Pietas pontificia. English	Herring, Francis, d. 1628.; Vicars, John, 1579 or 80-1652.	1617 (1617)	STC 13247; ESTC S104005	1,242,509	130

second commandement Exodus 20.5 6. Where the Lord calleth them that will observe that commandement and will worship him onely according to his owne direction and not after the will and inventions of men which is indeed the very summe of all that that God requireth of us in that commandement he calleth them I say such as love him and promiseth to shew mercy unto them even unto the thousand generation And on the other side he calleth the transgressours of that commandement such as dote on will-worship and on that service that is done unto him according to the inventions of men he calleth them I say such as hate him and threatneth to visit that sinne of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation Yea the Lord hath so farre forth liked this sticking to the purity of his worship and refusing to admit any mixture of humane corruptions with it in any man where he hath seene it that he hath beene wont to reward it even in them that have beene no better than hypocrites For this we have a plaine proofe in two notable examples first of Rehoboam and then in his sonne Abijah after him Of Rehoboam we read 2 Chronicles 11.17 that so long as hee walked in the wayes of David and Salomon that is maintained the purity of Gods worship and received no mixture of idolatry with it he was strong and prospered And of Abijah it is said 2 Chron. 13.9 1● that in the great battell hee fought against Ieroboam hee grounded his hope of victory on nothing so much as this that Ieroboam had corrupted Gods worship so had not be but he had maintained the pure worship of God which he had in his Word prescribed without any mixture or corruption at all And accordingly God gave him a wonderfull victory and the kingdome prospered under him all his dayes as you shall find from Vers. 17. to the end of that Chapter And yet if you look into 1 King 15.3 you shall see that neither of these two men was any better than an hypocrite And on the other side for a man to hate all idolatry and every thing that belongeth to it or proceedeth from it is not to be blamed as a fault in any man nay it is a very good thing and highly pleasing unto God You shall see this made evident unto you out of Gods Word in foure particulars First Sundry worthy men are highly commended of God for it Three onely I will name unto you of whom no doubt can bee made but they were all most worthy and holy men The first is Moses of whom wee read Exodus 32.20 that hee tooke the golden calfe which Aaron and the people had made and burnt it in the fire and ground it to powder and strawed it upon the water and made the Israelites to drinke it The second is of Iosiah of whom we read 2 King 23.4 6. that he burnt the very vessels that were made for Baal and the grove and stamped it to powder and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the idolaters And this zealous hatred he shewed not against the monuments of that idolatry onely that had beene committed in the worship of false gods but even against the monuments also of Ieroboams idolatry which was committed in the false worship of the true God as you shall see Ver. 15. Moreover the altar that was at Bethel c. And thirdly of Hezekiah we read 2 King 18.4 that he did more than so and is highly commended of God for it For he did not only remove the high places and break the images and cut down the groves but he brake also in peeces the brazen serpent which Moses had made and called it in scorne and contempt Nehushtan a piece of brasse and all because the people had burnt incense unto it they had abused it unto idolatry And why did they thus Might not these goodly images have beene retained still for the adorning and beautifying of the Temple Might not the matter of them and of the vessels that were used in the service of idols being doubtlesse many of them of gold and silver as is plaine Deut. 7.25 and the wood and timber of the groves have beene reserved and put to some good use must they needs thus be burnt and stamped into powder Alas what hurt was there would a naturall man say in the images or groves specially in the gold or silver or wood of them All the hurt was in them that did abuse them to idolatry in the things themselves there was no hurt at all But specially what reason had Hezechiah to use the brasen Serpent so that was first of divine institution and might have beene profitably retained one would have thought for historicall use to keepe in remembrance the better that wonderfull worke of God in curing his people that had been stung with fiery Serpents by looking up unto it Surely besides other reasons that concerned them especially both Moses Iosiah and Hezekiah did this to shew their detestation to idolatry and thought they could never have shewed their detestation to it sufficiently if they had not done thus And see how highly the Holy Ghost commendeth Hezekiah upon this very occasion and for this thing Vers. 5 6 of that Chapter Why but you will say may things that are of divine institution as the brazen Serpent was be rejected by us because Idolaters have abused them I answer No if by divine institution they be to continue and remaine We may like never the worse of the Word or Sacraments because Popish Idolaters do abuse them both While that divine cure was to be done upon Gods people that were stung with fiery serpents the brazen serpent was by divine institution a holy and sacred thing After that time there was not by divine institution any holinesse in it at all If God had after that ordained that it should be kept though but for historicall use as he did for the pot of Mannah Exodus 16.33 and for Aarons rod Numbers 17.10 Hezekiah would not have broken it to peeces though the people had abused it to superstition and idolatry never so much he would have shewed his detestation to their Idolatry some other way It had beene indeed long retained in the Church even from the dayes of Moses untill Hezekia●s time as a monument of Gods mercy to his people but without any such commandement of God as the other were and therefore when it became a stumbling block and occasion of idolatry it was lawfully removed Secondly God hath in his Word commanded his people to shew this detestation unto idolatry This commandement we have Deut. 7.25 26. where the Lord not onely commandeth his people to burne the silver and golden images of their gods and chargeth them to take heed of desiring any of that silver or of that gold or of bringing any of it into their houses but he giveth this for the reason Thou shalt utterly detest

neglect any one of the rites and ceremonies of it Yea the Lord had said Numb 9.13 that he that observed not the just time that God had set for it should bee cut off from his people So dangerous a thing it is to swerve from the direction God hath given us in his Word even in the least circumstance of his worship The reasons and grounds of this Doctrine are principally two First The respect wee owe to the commandement and ordinance of God The least thing in Gods worship that hee hath appointed must not bee neglected even because hee hath ordained it Circumcision is nothing saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 7.19 and uncircumcision is nothing but the keeping of the commandements of God Though wee could see no other reason for them at all nor had any hope to receive good by them yet this is sufficient reason to move us to observe them because God in his Word hath given us direction so to doe In observing of them wee doe our homage to God and shew our obedience unto him This reason prevailed with our blessed Saviour 1. Hee received the Sacrament of circumcision in his infancy Luke 2.21 and afterward the Sacrament of baptisme too Luke 3.21 2. He submitted himselfe to the law of purification Luke 2 2● 3. He received the Sacrament of the passeover Luke 22.15 4. He frequented the Church assemblies constantly upon the Sabbath Luke 4.16 and all upon this ground that these were Gods ordinances and hee must shew his obedience to God in all things Thus it becommeth us saith hee to Iohn Matth. 2.15 to fullfill all righteousnesse There were other purifications that were in use in that Church and much stood upon in those daies which hee made no such reckoning of though in themselves a man would have thought they had beene every whit as good as these that hee made conscience of upon this ground that they were not of Gods ordaining they were but the precepts of men Mat. 15.9 Secondly These things are ordained of God and enjoined us to observe for our owne good Keepe the commandements of the Lord and his statutes saith Moses Deut. 10.13 which I command thee this day for thy good That which is said of the Sabbath Marke 2.27 The Sabbath was made for man for mans great benefit and helpe hee could not have beene without it the same may bee said of every thing in Gods worship that hee hath ordained hee hath ordained it for our good even to further and increase the worke of his grace in our hearts And wee may confidently expect a blessing from God in observing the least thing that hee hath appointed us to use in his worship that God will give it vertue and make it effectuall to doe our soules good if wee use it aright See in three examples what vertue and force there was even in very small things that were of Gods ordaining 1. Numb 21.9 The very looking up to the brasen serpent cured all that were stung with fiery serpents 2 Iosh. 6.20 At the blowing of the trumpets of rammes hornes and shouting of the people the walls of Iericho fell downe flat to the ground 3. 2 Kings 5.14 By dipping himselfe seven times in Iordan Naaman was perfectly cured of his Leprosy See what force there was in small things that are of Gods ordaining and how undoubted a truth that is which the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 1.25 The weakenesse of God is stronger then man The ceremonies and religious observations that are of mens devising as crucifixes to pray before crossing of our selves observing of popish fasts and superstitious holydayes sprinkling with popish holy water and such like though they carry great shew of helping us in devotion yet of them all it may bee said as our Saviour said of the Iewish purifyings Matth. 15.9 they are a vaine worship there is no force nor vertue in them to further the soule one jot in true piety and devotion Yea those very things that were once Gods owne ordinances as these washings and sprinkling with hysope that David alludeth to here and such like when they grew out of date and ceased any longer to bee commanded of God even they then lost that vertue and strength that once they had and became weake and beggerly elements as the Apostle calleth them Gal. 4.9 The uses that this Doctrine serveth unto are two principally 1. For instruction 2. For exhortation For the first Two things we are to learne from this Doctrine First That wee are bound to follow the direction that God hath either by precept or example given us in his Word even in the least circumstance of his worship wee may not say that in matters of substance wee must follow precisely the direction but in matters of circumstance wee are not bound so to doe The direction that God hath given us in his Word for the least thing that is to bee done in any part of his worship may not bee neglected without great sinne and danger Admit it were but a matter of circumstance what day wee keepe our Sabbath on so we keepe one in seven as some have conceited it to bee yet because God hath given us expresse direction in his Word by the example and practise of the Apostle and of those Churches that were planted by him Acts 20.7 1 Corinthians 16.2 to keepe it on the first day of the weeke the Church may never keepe it on any other day then that See thou make all things saith the Lord to Moses as you shall find it Hebrewes 8.5 according to the patterne shewed unto thee in the mount The written Word is unto us in stead of that patterne that was shewed unto Moses in the mount In every thing wee doe about Gods tabernacle and worship wee must precisely looke unto and follow that patterne observe what hee commands Secondly This teacheth us how to judge of that imputation that is put upon many of Gods faithfull servants and that maketh them as odious in the world as any other thing doth that they are held to bee more precise then wise that they are too strict and singular in matters of small moment And surely such as are indeed more precise and singular then they ought to hee doe justly deserve to bee blamed for it And I will tell you who they bee that are so 1. Such as are strict and zealously superstitious in the observing of their owne fancies and the customes and traditions of men Such a one was Paul before his conversion exceedingly zealous of the traditions of his fathers as hee saith Galathians 1.14 Such were the Iewes that pressed with great heate and contention both Christs Disciples Marke 7 2 3. and Iohns Iohn 3.25 to observe their purifyings 2. Such as seeme to bee very precise in smaller things as in matters of ceremony and some outward observations which indeed God requireth them to make conscience of but make no conscience of the weightier points of Gods law This precisenesse our